Tom Robinson Symbolism

The meaning of the mockingbird can mean a lot of different things. To me the definition means and represents someone that displays traits of helpfulness, kindness and are usually very caring, mockingbirds are always referenced as never hurting anyone. Three people in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee that display all of these traits are Tom Robinson, an african-american man who is tried and convicted of rapeing a white woman even though everyone knows he is innocent, Boo Radley, a lonely recluse who is the talk of the town, and Jem Finch, a young white boy growing up in a very racist town. Everyone of these characters displays certain traits that are very similar to each other and of a mockingbird, yet each of the characters

Tom Robinson is a african-american man who works very hard and shows multiple examples of him symbolizing a mockingbird. Tom is accused of raping a white woman by the name of Mayella Ewell. Tom ends up having to go to court. My first piece of evidence to show Tom is a mockingbird, is a quote from when Tom was in court. “Mr. Finch it was way last spring. I remember it because it was choppin’ time and I had my hoe with me… She said she could give me a hatchet and I broke up the chiffarobe. She said she reckon she hafta’ give me a nickel and I said ‘No ma'am, no charge.’ Then I went home.” This shows that Tom is a mockingbird because he displays the traits of a mockingbird, he is helpful by helping Mayella chop up her chiffarobe and he is caring and kind by refusing the money. My second piece of evidence is also a quote from Tom in court, he is being cross-examined by Atticus, “‘Tom did you rape Mayella Ewell?’ ‘No sir, I did not.’ ‘Did you touch or harm her in any way?’ ‘No sir’” This shows that Tom is a mockingbird he didn’t hurt Ms. Mayella, he later gets convicted in the book which is like him “dying” in the novel. My third piece of evidence is a paraphrase from the novel when Tom is being cross-examined by the state. Tom makes the mistake of saying he feels bad for Ms. Mayella. This is very kind of Tom yet in the time period, of the 1930’s and 1940’s, it is very bad for a black man to say he feels

Boo is a lonely and scary character who is very mysterious and we don’t actually meet him until the end of the book. Boo Radley is the subject of many rumors about him doing different things from being locked in a basement to stabbing his father in the leg with scissors, all of these rumors are unfair for Boo considering nobody has ever met him. My first piece of evidence to show Boo is a mockingbird is a quote, “every scratch of feet on gravel was Boo Radley seeking revenge, Boo Radleys insane fingers picking the wire to pieces.” This quote is very similar to what I said earlier in the paragraph which is that everyone views Boo as this scary menacing person when they have never seen him or talked to him. This is kind of like him dying as a mockingbird because he never has done something to purposely hurt someone and yet people are making all of these false assumptions about him. My second piece of evidence is also a quote. “Before he went inside the house he stopped in front of Boo Radley, ‘Thank you for my children Arthur.’” This quote is about Atticus thanking Boo for saving his children’s life from Bob Ewell. This is an example of Boo showing the traits of a mockingbird by being helpful, kind and caring. The last piece of evidence supporting that Boo is a mocking bird is when Heck Tate, the county sheriff, and Atticus are talking about the death of Bob Ewell. Heck is telling Atticus that they should not tell